Obama agenda: A transformational figure?

Liz Sidoti: “He wants to slash funding for the Democratic sacred cows of Social Security and Medicare. He doesn't agree with a judge and women’s rights groups that girls of any age should have easy access to emergency contraception. He has hinted that he may disappoint environmentalists by letting the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline be built. And, to varying degrees, President Barack Obama seems to be going middle-of-the-road on everything from gun control to immigration reform to drone policy, much to the annoyance of many Democratic activists and liberal lawmakers.”

More: “It’s all in the spirit of his well-used, Voltaire-inspired quote: ‘‘We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.’’ It’s also a bow to the reality of getting things done in an era of divided government. And it’s enough to make the most loyal Democrats who twice carried him to the White House shake their heads in amazement and anger, wondering this: Just who does Obama think he is? This is who: A shrewd politician intent on doing what’s necessary to emerge from his presidency as a transformational figure — beyond the scope of being the nation’s first non-white president — with a legacy of having changed entire pillars of a country in a period of significant change. And a president who sees most Americans telling pollsters that they want leaders to put compromise over party loyalty.”

John Kerry tells CNN (in the middle of the gun debate) about his discussions with students and parents overseas: "We had an interesting discussion about why fewer students are coming to, particularly from Japan, to study in the United States, and one of the responses I got from our officials from conversations with parents here is that they're actually scared. They think they're not safe in the United States and so they don't come," Kerry said. CNN: “He noted Japan's restrictive gun laws – which prevent private ownership of nearly all firearms, including handguns – and said the country was safer ‘where people are not running around with guns.’”

NBC’s Pete Williams: “Can a company own a patent on the genes in the human body -- including yours? The U.S. Supreme Court takes up that question Monday, diving into an issue that could help determine the future of life-saving genetic medicine.”